1. Field of the Invention
This disclosure generally relates to gaming devices, and more particularly but not exclusively, relates to electronic gaming machines (EGMs).
2. Description of the Related Art
Gaming properties often devote a large percentage of floor space to gaming devices. Each gaming device presents players with individual games of chance, games of skill, or combinations thereof that they may wager on.
In modern gaming properties, many gaming devices are in the form of electronic gaming machines (EGMs) that may include specialized computing devices or specially programmed general purpose computing devices along with user input and output interfaces and financial transaction components. These EGMs have been subject to ever greater computational demands. Each EGM may provide, inter alia, the following: offer a number of graphics-intensive games of chance and associated bonus games to players; communicate via a network with one or more servers within the gaming property; display the content of one or more web pages; receive and process currency of various types inserted by players; display targeted advertisements and other audiovisual content to players; process and store information indicative of wagers made by players; and so forth. As these computational demands have continued to multiply, the computational power provided in each EGM has needed to be increased in order to enable more and more functionality.
One possible solution to meet these computational demands is to provide larger and faster single processors. However, larger single processors are more expensive, and fewer such processors can be fabricated per wafer. Further, the larger size of the processor increases the risk of defects. A faster and larger single processor also generates increased heat, thereby requiring more complex and/or additional components to address heat dissipation.